


Overdue.

by Aloebear



Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Library, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anne is irresponsible but we been knew, Banter cause we love it here, Bantering, Bash is literally me, Cuteness overload, F/M, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gilbert Blythe has Heart Eyes, Gilbert Blythe is Whipped, Journalist Anne Shirley, Mutual Pining, Romantic Fluff, Sebastian "Bash" Lacroix Ships Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley, Stubborn Anne Shirley, Workplace Relationship, book puns, clueless Anne, gilbert loves her so much omg, okay so this is a full story apparently??, pining gilbert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24619834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aloebear/pseuds/Aloebear
Summary: “I’ll have you know I’m very accountable!” she declared. “In fact, I always finish my papers and assignments first. Tell me what irresponsible person could do that.”“You.”Gilbert was met with a hit on the arm.--AU where Gilbert works at a library and Anne's books are always overdue
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Comments: 58
Kudos: 244





	1. Overdue.

“I’ll call you back when I’m almost home. Yes, I won’t forget to pick up your coffee this time. Okay. Okay...DIANA!” Anne exclaimed exasperatedly into her phone. She was met with disapproving stares and shushes by the people around her. Anne mouthed an apology before bringing her phone back to her ear. “I have to go check in these books before they charge me more for them being overdue. I’ll talk to you later. Bye!” She hung up and started walking towards the front desk where a familiar man with a head of curls stood. 

“At some point, I’m going to have to stop giving you discounts for your overdue books. What is this? The third time this month?” Gilbert said with a soft chuckle as he took her books and began to scan them. 

Anne just huffed. “Look, you should be blaming your policy. Who allows people to check out books for only a week?!”

Gilbert just smiled at the girl as he finished checking in her books on the computer. This exact conversation has probably happened at least fifty times before. Anne would come in basically running across the room, she would blame something other than the fact that she was irresponsible, they would have a friendly banter, and then Gilbert would cover most of the cost of her overdue books. It was basically routine at this point and neither of them minded at all. Bash, the owner of the library, would always tease Gilbert about the encounters after Anne would leave. It was always something along the lines of Gilbert having “favorites” or his admiration for the redhead but of course, the older man was met with denial from the younger. 

Anne was a costumer, and nothing but a customer. She could even be considered somewhat of a friend. Though, that was probably far from true since they never exchanged numbers or spoke outside of the library. 

On rare occasions, Gilbert would spot the redhead around his college campus at Queens. Though, he wasn’t sure if it were actually her. Though he could have sworn…

“Our policy is what keeps people accountable...something you seem to struggle with.” Gilbert said with a laugh, though saying the last part quietly. Anne could pick up his snarkiness any day though. 

“I’ll have you know I’m very accountable!” she declared. “In fact, I always finish my papers and assignments first. Tell me what irresponsible person could do that.”

“You.” 

Gilbert was met with a hit on the arm. 

“Hey Blythe! Stop mistreating the customers.” Bash exclaimed from his office across the way. From the look on the man’s face, he was obviously snickering at the encounter between the two students. Gilbert also noticed phone in his hand which was probably video proof for Bash to blackmail the boy later. 

“Thank you Bash.” Anne said properly and Bash just nodded and smiled. 

Anne turned back to Gilbert and smiled. “I’m going to go get some more books if that’s okay.” 

“Anything for you Shirley.” Gilbert smiled before picking up some books to put away.


	2. Mind If I Check You Out?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I could literally kiss you right now. Thank you so much Gilbert.” She said as she stood up and gave him a hug before sitting down and opening up the new book. 
> 
> Gilbert was stunned for a second but slowly walked away with incoherent words falling from his mouth. Something about ‘another break time’ and he disappeared to the back rooms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No longer a one shot! Welcome to a collection of short stories from this universe!

Finals season was right around the corner and students were buzzing in and out of the library in record time. Gilbert was stunned at all of the people. He didn’t even realize they knew this place existed. The poor boy was allowed longer break times due to the fact that he looked like he would pass out at any given second. Being that he was a college student himself, he was always studying when he wasn’t working. Sleep was out of the question at this point. 

He was sluggishly putting some books away in their rightful shelves when he heard none other than the infamous redhead seated at a table not too far from him. He would be lying to himself if he didn’t at least try to wake himself up a bit. However, he noticed someone extra….a boy?

“I can’t believe I actually have to study to be a visual arts major. I should be painting NOT writing.” The blonde man complained and Anne rolled her eyes.

“Cole, now is not the time to complain. We were lucky enough to find a place to sit. Just keeping going.” 

She didn’t even look up at the man, instead she continued with her work. Pencil tapping vigorously against her forehead and chewing on her lip ever so slightly.

The two worked in silence for a few more minutes as Gilbert peered through the bookshelves. Sure, from an outsiders point of view this could seem stalker-ish. Though he wasn’t stalking them….more like glancing! (For a long period of time).

After some time, the blonde man got up and said something about ‘taking a break’. Anne just nodded and continued her work. Would it be an okay time to go and speak with her? He certainly didn’t want her to be aggravated with him but…

“Why are you staring at my friend?” Cole whispered which caused Gilbert to jump.

“When did you- You were just-“

“And you’re lucky she didn’t see you.” The blonde man laughed. “I noticed you staring about five minutes ago, I just didn’t know when you would stop.” 

…..okay so he did seem like a stalker. 

“I was just putting books away. I wasn’t necessarily staring at you all. More like….monitoring?” 

Cole just looked at Gilbert with the most confused expression. Monitoring? What in the world…

“Okay, sure. ‘Monitoring’” Cole started. “If you’re monitoring, why not help her? You obviously work here and she’s been struggling to find the right edition of the book she’s supposed to be studying from. I believe she’s looking for the fourth edition.” 

“Oh! Now that you mention it, that sounds like a wonderful idea. I’ll get to that right now.” Gilbert replied a bit too excitedly. He then made a beeline past her table to figure out the title she was looking for. After a quick search at the front desk, he located the precious treasure and went back to her table where Cole was now seated.

“I noticed you seemed frantic, maybe this will help?” Gilbert said somewhat timidly as he slid her the book. He honestly didn’t know how she would react. Anne seemed scary when she was stressed. 

Anne glanced at the book set in front of her and her eyes shot open. A smile was glowing on her face. “Where did you find this?! I’ve checked online, on bookstores, and several libraries and I couldn’t find it ANYWHERE.” She exclaimed until her face fell a bit. “Wait how did you know I needed this?” 

Gilbert scratched the back of his neck and ran a hand through his hair. “I just figured...a lot of English majors at my school needed that addition but most of them were checked out. I noticed you had the wrong addition and just so happened to find an extra copy.” He smiled 

“I could literally kiss you right now. Thank you so much Gilbert.” She said as she stood up and gave him a hug before sitting down and opening up the new book. 

Gilbert was stunned for a second but slowly walked away with incoherent words falling from his mouth. Something about ‘another break time’ and he disappeared to the back rooms. 

Cole waiting until the man was out of sight before laughing quietly. “He totally likes you, Anne.” 

Anne looked up with a red face. “He does NOT.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Please drop a comment on your thoughts on the chapter I’d love to hear them :) (also each chapter title will have a library pun lol)


	3. ISBN Thinking About You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne beamed. “I can’t wait to start working here! We are gonna have so much fun.” 
> 
> “You WHAT?” 
> 
> Needless to say, the two would definitely be hanging out more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of updates! I’ve been busy with summer work but here we are now!

Today was the day. The day Gilbert was dreading. The day Bash threatened to fire him if he didn’t go through with his plan. He had to take a few days to prepare for the monumental occasion.

He was finally going to ask Anne to hang out. 

No it wouldn’t be a date. It’s more of a “get-to-know Anne better” day. As of late, he realized he only ever spoke to her while they were in the library. They never texted or called. They never shared funny stories. The only thing they did seem to share a love for were books. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but there was so much more to Anne he wanted to learn about. 

For instance, what was her favorite food? What did she do in her free time? Childhood stories? Favorite color? Fears? Boyf-

“Gilbert stop daydreaming and register these books into the system.” Bash said as he whacked the boy with a book as he passed by. 

Gilbert sighed as he glanced at the book pile beside him. He was lucky he was getting paid somewhat enough for this. 

An hour or two passed and Gilbert was finally done with the books. He silently celebrated the victory and was about to go on his break when the infamous redhead entered. 

“Gilbert!” She exclaimed. She was running in with papers in her arms and a backpack on her back. She must have finished a class a few minutes ago. 

Gilbert quickly sat back down in his chair and straightened his back as he smiled at her. “Anne! Are you okay? You look kind of...stressed.” He said with a small laugh as she tried to quickly fix her appearance. 

“I guess you could say I am stressed, but it’s all with good reason.” She said as she tried to smooth her hair. “I’m actually looking for-“

“Anne! Glad to see you here.” Bash grinned. Gilbert could have sworn that man just teleports across the building. 

“I’m so sorry I’m late. My class ended about ten minutes ago and I pretty much ran here.” Anne replied. That definitely explained her appearance at the moment. 

“Ah I could never hold that against you. But please come into my office” Bash said with a smile as Anne quickly made her way back there. Bash shot Gilbert mischievous grin that caused the younger to be even more confused. 

“Bash?....Bash what are you doing?!” Gilbert asked as he started following the older man, but before he was answered he was met with a door slammed into his face. 

All Gilbert could do was sit at his desk and wonder impatiently. Luckily, he had some customers come in to keep his mind off of things but he was still curious nevertheless.

After about thirty or so minutes the two came out of the office, both with smiles. 

“Gilbert, I’m proud to introduce you to your newest co-worker!” Bash said. Though it was obvious that he was plotting something. 

Anne beamed. “I can’t wait to start working here! We are gonna have so much fun.” 

“You WHAT?” 

Needless to say, the two would definitely be hanging out more.


	4. i think you're cool, and that's nonfiction.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon?” Gilbert asked with a smile as he locked the library doors. 
> 
> “If you allow me reading breaks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have a LONG one today! I was really inspired so enjoy! <3

“Show her the ropes of the place while I’m away. Delly has the flu and Mary is away on a business meeting. I’ll be back in about two days.” And just like that, Bash was away and Gilbert was in charge. He should have been ecstatic about the whole thing, but instead he was quite frightened. Sure he would be getting a higher income for a short period, but he was running an entire library and teaching Anne how to do it. 

He was really in for it. 

The first day wasn’t as bad as he set it out to be. Anne was actually an hour early and ready for the day. Though surprised, Gilbert knew he still had a job to do. 

Before the customers began to flood the place, he introduced her to all of the catelogs, offices, book sections. He spoke slowly, hoping he wouldn’t have to repeat himself hours later. However, he found himself reminding Anne to do the simplest tasks instead. 

“Anne, you can’t keep disappearing to the fiction section, you still have a pile of books needing to be put away.” Gilbert said with a frown, though the fondness in his voice was evident. 

“You’re not my dad.” Anne sighed as she closed a book with a decorative cover. Probably something from their Jane Austen collection. “Besides, I was just heading back anyways. I was just taking a break...” She trailed off as she started back for her desk.

“Hey, that’s no way to talk to your boss now is it?” Gilbert chuckled as he nudged her softly.   
“Don’t let the title get to your head,” she responded with a smirk. “Once he’s back, you’ll go back to being my friend.” 

Gilbert stopped for a moment. Friends. They were friends?! When was this established? When did she establish this? He didn’t even realize she thought of him in such a way...but when-

“Bosses have work to do as well Gilbert!” Anne called back to him. He didn’t even realize he stopped walking. 

“Focus on yourself Carrots!” He called back with a smile. 

That smile immediately faltered when he was met with a smack of a book. “Don’t EVER disrespect me like that!” Anne called back and then disappeared to the back offices. 

\----------------

The moon glimmered through the tall windows of the library. The grand area no longer bustled with loud typing and soft murmuring. The place closed relatively late and Gilbert was finishing the last of his daily chores. Once he was done, he made his rounds to make sure everyone was out of the library. 

The downstairs were clear and he almost ignored the upstairs quadrant until he noticed one of the lamps were still gleaming.

He groaned as he begrudgingly made his way up the steps. Was it terribly hard for students to do the bare minimum of turning off the lights when they were done using them?! What about the electricity bill?!

He reached to turn off the light when his eyes landed on a small figure on the floor. A redheaded girl to be exact. 

“I thought you left an hour ago,” Gilbert started. He rubbed his eyes, the sleep was catching up to him. “Same book as before I see?”

She simply looked up and nodded before turning back to the book to continue reading. 

A beat of silence passed. Gilbert knew he wasn’t moving her, but he also knew he couldn’t leave her here. 

He set down his things on the table and left for the non-fiction section before returning with a book of his own. He sat next to her without a word and opened his book. Reading never did anyone any harm. 

“The Immortal Life of Henritta Lacks.” Anne read suddenly. “That’s such a wonderful story. First time reading it?” she asked

“Second actually.” Gilbert responded. “I love to dissect the stories even more my second time around.” 

“Are you kidding? Me too!” Anne said excitedly. “You miss so much when you’re experiencing a book for the first time. You’re blinded with initial blissfulness that you don’t realize how important the themes and characterization are! And then you’re able to truly enjoy the book to its fullest potential and even make spin-off stories in your head. Isn’t it terribly exciting to imagine how a story could have happened or how you would react to certain situations? I would absolutely cry if I lived in a storybook realm filled with magic and-”

Anne continued her tangent. Gilbert wondered if she even knew that he was still present. She seemed to be in a daydreaming state full of child-like imagination and wonder. 

Gilbert has only seen this side of her once before. She came with her friends one day and she was recommending books. She vividly summarized almost every storybook they owned in the library. Ever since then, Gilbert made it his mission to keep the fiction section updated as much as possible. Only to hope that Anne would continue to visit and he could see her smile when she saw a new arrival. 

“Gilbert?....” Anne asked, she looked awfully worried. 

“Huh, oh!” Real smooth Blythe. “Anne that sounds marvelous. Truly. I take it fiction is your favorite genre?” He asked.

“Oh, you scared me for a second. I thought I bored you.” She laughed nervously. “Fiction is definitely my favorite. Nothing quite matches the feeling of visiting a fantasy realm you know?” 

“Definitely” Gilbert responded. 

There was that look in his eyes again. Anne couldn’t miss it. 

She didn’t know what to think of it. He always had that earnest look to him. Almost like a prince charming who always looked perfect no matter what he did. 

She didn’t want to get her hopes up. No, she woudln’t. This was just his personality. He was just a great friend to her. That’s all. 

“It’s uh, It’s getting late. We should leave. Don’t you have a class in the morning?” Gilbert asked as he rubbed the back of his neck.   
Anne groaned dramatically. “You’re right” She said as she closed her book and stood up, stretching a bit as she did. 

Gilbert did the same and they both gathered their things to leave. (He turned off the lamp this time)

“I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon?” Gilbert asked with a smile as he locked the library doors. 

“If you allow me reading breaks.”

“Bribery already Shirley?”

“As your employee for another day, I’d say this is merely a simple request”

“Okay, you’ll get a reading break and I have a pass to call you carrots whenever.” Gilbert said with a smirk

“Oh, that’s just low Blythe.”

“No reading for you then..” Gilbert said as he began to walk off. It took all but two second for Anne to oblige. 

“Fine. You win” She sighed, though a smile was evident on her face. 

“Pleasure doing business with you, Carrots.” Gilbert said with a small bow. “Goodnight.” 

“Goodnight!” she called out to him. 

They then went their separate ways for the night.


	5. i just can't help my shelf.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What do you mean I have to read to them?! Are you joking right now?” 
> 
> “Why would I joke about a source of income, get out there. They should be here any minute.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyoo~ We're back! Thank you so so SO much for the sweet comments and kudos ;-; You all have all of my love and thank you for reading my story! Enjoy this next chapter :)

The days in the library were either eventful or blurred together. Often, it was the latter. It was a place of study and silent reading after all..nothing interesting was meant to happen. That was how Gilbert expected today to go, until Bash opened his mouth, that is. 

“What do you mean I have to read to them?! Are you joking right now?” 

“Why would I joke about a source of income, get out there. They should be here any minute.” Without a chance to show his disapproval any further, Gilbert was basically kicked out of the office. The door slammed close behind him. He grimaced as he made his way to the front desk where Anne was sitting. (Surprisingly on time and actually doing work. Shocker.)

“You look like you just swallowed castor oil, are you okay?” She asked, though there was a hint of amusement in her voice. It was obvious she was biting back a laugh. 

“It’s nothing, I just-” Gilbert couldn’t even explain his predicament in enough time when the doors flung open and noise entered the once peaceful atmosphere. Luckily, there weren’t many students in the library this early, but they did glare at the sudden noise levels. 

Their teacher, a petite lady with unruly hair and circular glasses, struggled to gain control of the rambunctious children. Some started breaking their line while others seemed to start a game of tag. Gilbert and Anne both exchanged looks and cringed before turning back to the class. “Johnathon, please stay in a single file line! Hips and lips everyone!” Their teacher said with a hushed reprimand. 

“Why are there a hoard of children here?....Isn’t this the university’s library-” Anne started, but the class already made it to the couple. 

“Hello there, you must be one of the workers! We are here for the 10:30 field trip. Just tell me where we should go and I’ll try to keep the children in order.” The teacher said, though her smile looked so forced. She seemed like she was about to rip her hair out. 

Gilbert held back a long sigh as he plastered a smile on his face as well. “Follow me to the reading nook over here.” He said politely and soon enough the entire group made their way to the designated corner. 

Anne looked on with piqued interest. The children were settling down on the colorful carpet (which wasn’t there a week ago…) and she smiled at their excited faces. Sure, they were being a bit obnoxious, but it was all justified. Storytime always made Anne tickle with excitement. She just hoped Gilbert would give the children the same experience she once had when she was younger. 

\-----------

It took about fifteen minutes for the children to all agree on a book to be read aloud. (It was a close tie between “The Cat in the Hat” and “Jack and the Beanstalk”. After a flip of a coin, The Cat in the Hat won.) 

Gilbert was about to open the book and begin this dreaded journey when he heard a chair pull up right next to him. Anne sat excitedly with her hands in her lap as she looked over to him expectantly. He glanced at her in question, yet she only winked. 

He would be lying if that little sentiment didn’t make his heart stop for a second. 

He smirked as her finally opened the book for the expectant children. 

“The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play. So we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day..” Gilbert began reading with his most melodic voice. He may not have been the best storyteller, but he would definitely try his best. Especially with Anne sitting next to him. (Not that it mattered..)

“I sat there with Sally. We sat there, we two. And I said, “How I wish we had something to do!” Too wet to go out and too cold to play ball! So we sat in the house, we did nothing at all. So all we could do was to sit! Sit! Sit! Sit!” He exclaimed and he heard giggles from the young audience. He also noticed arms flailing in the corner of his eye. 

Low and behold, Anne was acting out the story. When he paused, she was mid-expression waiting for the next line. When it didn’t come, she looked over to him and nodded from him to continue. 

She was really saving him.

As the story continued, Gilbert began to feel more comfortable himself. He had a designated voice for each character. (His Cat in the Hat voice seemed to be a favorite among the kids. He even caught Anne laughing at it.)

Before the story was even over, the kids were laughing and reacting to every line. One kid even tried to do the tricks the storybook characters were doing! 

The story ended with an “And they all lived happily ever after” and a dramatic book closing and the kids all erupted in applause. Anne bowed in her seat and Gilbert joined her. 

“You and your girlfriend are very funny mister! You should read us another book!” A little girl exclaimed and the surrounding kids nodded in agreement. 

Girlfriend?....Gilbert’s first instinct was to glance over to Anne. Big mistake of course. 

She immediately averted his gaze and looked over to the child. “I actually have to finish something, but it was an absolute pleasure reading to you all.” Anne said with a warm smile. As she began to stand up and put her chair away, the children whined for her to come back. She looked back and waved at them before disappearing to the front desk.   
Gilbert balked at her sudden disappearance and stared wide-eyed in her direction. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised in any way. Besides, they were still at work. She probably had a lot to do since Bash assigned them both a lot of chores. ...Maybe he could talk Bash letting him take over all of her tasks so she wouldn’t have to work as mu-

“Hello?” The teacher asked. She was waving her hand in his face. 

“O-Oh! Yes, ma’am?”

“I was saying thank you for reading to the children. They absolutely loved it! I was also wondering where the owner is? I needed to give him the payment for the trip.” 

Gilbert led the teacher to Bash, said his final goodbyes to the little ones, and retreated to the non-fiction section to think. 

He sat at a table for what seemed like an hour. (It was probably fifteen minutes, his sense of time is terrible). 

Now, Gilbert wasn’t the best with women, but he was an amazingly observant. Anne was obviously comfortable around him. There was no doubt about that whatsoever. When she ran off like that, he couldn’t help but feel as if he did something terrible. 

Did he somehow make her uncomfortable? He began to analyze everything he’s told her the whole day that could have upset her. Gilbert has seen her angered with people before, and he refuses to be on the receiving end of her wrath. 

Maybe he should ask her? Directness never hurt anyone. But he obviously isn’t the most direct person if he still hasn’t told her how he fel- How he really wanted to get to know her. 

Nevertheless, he did notice one thing out of this whole ordeal. There was a shade of pink dusted on her cheeks as she left. 

If that’s anything he could go off of, he was more than happy to try and understand what it was about.


	6. (Author’s Note!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please read!! <3

Oh my goodness hello?? It’s been so long! I’ve been terribly busy with things irl that I kept forgetting I wrote on here! How crazy is that yikes,,,

Anywho, I wanted to say a massive thank you for the kudos on this piece! I constantly get notifications from you all and they are all so much appreciated!

Now, for the real content lol.

Should I continue this story? If people are still interested I will most definitely finish this! If not I’ll move on to other stories in my free time :) 

Okay that’s all for now! <3


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